Dear property owners and residents:
On or before May 1, you should be receiving a Notice of Valuation from our office. As in the past it will be in a postcard format. If you do not receive a Notice, please contact our office.
Starting May 1, appointments can be made by phone or in person through June 8. My office welcomes your questions but, if possible, ask for an appointment to be made if you would like to talk with me directly. I will also be setting appointments in Rangely.
I believe most are aware the work we do in the Assessor’s office follows laws set by the Colorado Constitution, the Colorado Revised Statutes, and guidelines set by the Division of Property Taxation that are approved by the State Statutory Advisory Committee.
By law, most types of property are valued using three approaches to value: Cost, Market and Income. However, CRS 39-1-103(5)(a), states “Residential value shall be determined solely by consideration of the market approach.” CRS 39-1-104(10.2)(d), directs us to use sales from 18 months prior to the final day of the data-gathering period, which is June 30, 2022, for this reappraisal period, to set the value. The level of value will be adjusted to the final day of the data-gathering period.
We had more sales during this data-gathering period than I can ever remember. I also believe sale prices were at an all-time high. These sales were what we, by law, are required to use in setting the value of property for 2023.
County-wide we saw an average increase in value of 30%, in the Town of Meeker 47.5% and in the Town of Rangely 22%. Rural property on the west end of the county went up 20%. Rural property on the east end of the county went up 34%, and commercial property county-wide is up 14%.
This does not mean that your taxes will increase this amount. There are several factors that go into calculating your tax bill from the value of your property. State legislation continues to change the laws and assessment rates we use to calculate the taxable value. Local taxing districts like fire, recreation, hospitals, water and pest districts, to name a few, set their mill levies. They can lower the mill levy by taking a credit levy but must go to the vote of the people to increase a levy.
Taxing districts are in different areas of the county and are separated by boundaries they set. Some of them may see a decrease in total taxable value if natural resource properties decrease in value as they contribute 80% of the taxable value to the total taxable value. The worst-case scenario would be if the State does not change the assessment rate and the taxing districts mill levies remain the same.
For an example, if your property value increased $100,000, using an average mill levy of 52 mills, your taxes will roughly increase by $360.
As you receive your Notice of Valuation please remember my office and staff are here and happy to go over any information on your property, calculate an estimated tax amount, and answer any questions you may have.
I would like to thank you for your time in reading this.
Sincerely,
County Assessor
Renae Neilson
and staff
…
Thoughts expressed on opinion pages are exclusively those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of the Herald Times. You are welcome to submit signed letters on matters of local interest to [email protected], mail to PO Box 720, Meeker, CO 81641 or drop off at 304 4th St., Meeker. there is no charge.
Due to space constraints, please keep submissions 500 words or less.
